


Boundless

by cravethatcinnaroll



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: M/M, its subtle but yeah, klance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-21
Updated: 2017-04-21
Packaged: 2018-10-22 06:32:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,162
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10691691
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cravethatcinnaroll/pseuds/cravethatcinnaroll
Summary: “You’re an interesting species, an interesting mix. You’re capable of such beautiful dreams, and such horrible nightmares. You feel so lost, so cut off, so alone. In all our searching, the only thing we found that makes the emptiness bearable is each other.”





	Boundless

Keith was an outcast. Unsociable. Restless. In flight school, while he’d always excelled individually, working with peers was a whole different story. It wasn’t like he was opposed to being part of a team; in fact, he secretly craved camaraderie. But the isolation was easy. The solitude was familiar. The distance was natural. It was all he’d ever known.

 

Initially, Keith had at least  _ tried  _ to get to know his fellow cadets. But because his clumsy attempts at conversation often came out coarse and awkward, he swiftly grew accustomed to the suffocating strain of silence.  _ Small talk was insubstantial anyway _ , Keith reasoned. He’d never once managed to get past that stage of painfully shallow formality, so why bother? 

 

And so, he carried on, choosing to ignore the hollowness that gnawed at his heart. Keith didn’t need to rely on anyone else; he never had and never would. As far as he was concerned, he could get by fine on his own. He’d told himself that for as long as he could remember, but couldn’t shake the feeling that something was missing. 

 

Then Shiro came along, taking him under his wing, and for once, Keith felt at ease. The older pilot’s presence was soothing and supportive, and little by little, Keith crept out of his shell. He was finally free to let down his walls, exposing himself to the invigorating chill of the wind in his hair. Being able to depend on another person was as daunting as it was liberating, but in the end, it all seemed to be worth it. 

 

Thanks to their fateful encounter, Keith gained both a mentor and a friend. Shiro was full of valuable advice and words of encouragement, preparing him for life after graduation. But in the end, nothing could’ve prepared him for the day when Shiro and his crew were pronounced dead in space. The hopeful airs surrounding the Kerberos mission had always seemed too good to be true, and just like that, the only person Keith could confide in was gone. He should have known better.  _ He should have stopped him _ . 

 

Part of him knew he was being irrational. Shiro had always been eager to try new things, to improve himself through the pursuit of knowledge. Nothing Keith could have said or done would have convinced him to deny the opportunity of a lifetime. Had the expedition succeeded, Shiro would have been hailed as one of the greatest pioneers of the century, though he was never in it for the fame. Now, even in death, the prodigious pilot had been reduced to nothing more than a scapegoat, a victim of media slander. Keith’s stomach twisted, fists clenched rigidly at his sides. He would get to the bottom of this, even if it killed him. 

 

Keith vowed to search until his body faltered, surrendering itself to exhaustion. Many nights passed in which he’d suddenly jolt awake, drenched in a veil of cold sweat. Feigning illness, he stopped attending classes in favor of digging up leads. And while the rest of the world slept, Keith would sneak out to the Garrison’s observatory deck to gaze solemnly at the North Star, wishing that someday, Shiro, who had been his own guiding light, would see it and be led back home. 

 

The more he snooped around, the more the truth seemed to elude him, smothered by a stream of conspiracies and cover-ups. Every new clue led nowhere. Every new trail went cold. Every day came with another order to get back to his flight training, to just act like nothing was wrong. But how could he even think of focusing on his own future when Shiro’s, once filled to the brim with promising potential, had been suddenly stolen away? For Keith, there was no other choice than to keep hunting. 

 

By the time Iverson caught wind of his little investigation, Keith was already prepared for the worst. Though he knew his expulsion was imminent, the fact that it would leave him with even more time to search had softened the brunt of the blow. Bringing only his knife and the clothes on his back, he slipped out of his dorm in the dead of night and made off with a Garrison hoverbike.  

 

Keith had no idea where he was heading. All he knew was that he had to get away. He wasn’t welcome there anymore.

 

After what felt the span of a lifetime, he found himself skidding to a stop.

 

It was calling out to him, a jarring force of nature that rattled his very bones, but he was never able to make sense of it. Not by himself, anyway.

 

Then  _ he  _ came along, the harsh, abrasive loudmouth who would change his life for good. Though Hunk had been the one to locate the lion, Lance had served as the ultimate catalyst, triggering the fateful chain of events that sent Keith’s world spinning.

 

In other words, everything had gone to shit. 

 

Finding himself stuck in the middle of an intergalactic war was a strangely sobering realization, confirming the existence of a higher cause--something far beyond himself. 

 

With every passing day, it became increasingly apparent that they’d have to work together to survive.

 

But the transformation was not easy. The solidarity was not familiar. The dependence was not natural. It was unlike anything he’d ever experienced.

 

With so much at stake, Keith’s headstrong, hasty nature could very well be the death of him. 

 

Back on Earth, he'd only ever dreamed of flying this high--this far from home. But this time, the exhilarating sense of freedom that often came with adventures and exploration was limited. As a defender of the universe, Keith’s life was no longer his own. Now, thanks to an ancient alien prophecy, he and the others were destined to either liberate the galaxy or die trying.

 

At first, it had been difficult to accept, mostly because of the abruptness of it all. But having to adjust to a life on the run didn’t phase him nearly as much as it affected the others. Unlike them, Keith had nothing to go back to but his small, decrepit shack. 

 

So when Lance was plagued with bouts of homesickness, grieving for the warmth he’d been forced to leave behind, Keith found it hard to relate.

 

He and Lance were opposites in every way imaginable, constantly clashing with competitive fervor. It would take a miracle for them stop bickering long enough to understand one another. Luckily, fate gave them quite a few, and things only got better from there.

 

At first, it had been painfully difficult to come to terms with his own feelings. But the admiration was easy. The synergy was familiar. The devotion was natural. A flicker of starlight gleamed bright against Lance’s blue eyes. Keith took in the view like a snapshot, having gained a newfound appreciation for the beauty of the universe. The night sky was vast. Unfathomable. Boundless. It was all he’d ever wanted.

>  

**Author's Note:**

> the quote is from the song "doves" by we are all astronauts
> 
> i've had this in my drafts since october lmao


End file.
